The present invention relates generally to the field of power management of battery-powered devices, and more particularly to modifying aspects of a battery-powered device based on a planned usage of the device.
A variety of electronic devices and mobile computing devices utilize rechargeable batteries for: providing power to a device, as an alternate power source for a device, and as a backup power source for both portable/mobile and stationary electronic devices when alternating current (AC) power is unavailable. Some electronic devices may be powered by an adapter connected to a direct current (DC) source, such as a lighter receptacle in a vehicle. While connected to a DC power source, the rechargeable batteries within the electronic devices may recharge. Typical portable electronic devices that contain rechargeable batteries include smartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, e-readers, smart glasses, smart watches, fitness devices, cameras, recording devices, mobile test equipment, and mobile medical equipment.
Some portable electronic devices, such as cameras and recording devices, have a more uniform power consumption, thereby allowing the rechargeable batteries to be readily swapped out and replaced with fresh batteries. Other portable electronic devices (e.g., mobile computing devices), such as smart phones and laptop computers may have highly variable power consumptions, which varies based on the number of options on the electronic device that are active. For example, larger displays, higher bandwidth transceivers, global positioning systems (GPS), cameras, number of active cores, graphics processing unit (GPU), etc., and the activity of a user. In addition, the manner of utilization of an application varies the power consumption. For example, reading a primarily text-based document (e.g., limited graphics) takes significantly less power than playing or viewing a high-resolution video game or a multimedia-based application (e.g., graphic intensive). In addition, as mobile electronic devices become more sophisticated the same functionality can be designed into a smaller form-factor, which can decrease battery size without a corresponding decrease in power consumption.